Tourist Arrivals to Indonesia in August Reaches 850,000 People

President Joko Widodo accompanied by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung entered a meeting room, at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, on Thursday (15/10) afternoon.

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo said that amidst global economic slowdown, including what’s currently happening to the Indonesian economy, tourism is the fastest sector that is able to boost the economy.

In his remarks on the limited meeting discussing program improvement for tourism development and infrastructure acceleration on transportation at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (15/10) afternoon, President Jokowi said that according to the report that he has received, tourist arrival in August 2015 reached 850,000 tourists or increased by 2.87% as compared to the number in August 2014.

“From the data that I have received, the number of tourist visits in almost every country decreased, but Alhamdulillah, the number of tourist arrival to Indonesia could increase,” the President said while asking related sides to make this condition a momentum to strengthen and boost tourist visits in Indonesia.

President Joko Widodo also said that the promotion of Indonesian tourism carried out by the Ministry of Tourism is really great.

“I watch it on CNN. The content of the promotion is nice and probably they have done the same works in other television channels that I have not watched yet,” President Widodo said.

According to the President,  tourism development in Indonesia lies on promotion and improvement of products on the ground.

Also attending the limited meeting were among others Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Resources Rizal Ramli, Coordinating Minister  for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, Minister of Tourism Arif Yahya, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Minister of National Development Planning/Head of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Sofyan Djalil, Minister of Finance Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister of State-owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno, Minister of Transportation Ignasius Jonan, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti, Minister of Industry Saleh Husin, and Minister of  Law and Human Rights Yasonna H. Laoly. (SLN/RAH/ES) (RAS/EP/YM-Naster/Sy)